The present invention is directed to a motorized wheeled vehicle caddy for pushing or pulling wheeled vehicles in order to move them from one place to another. The motorized wheeled vehicle caddy can be used for moving a variety of wheeled vehicles, including shopping carts, dollies, hand trucks, hospital carts, linen carts, maintenance carts, hospital beds and the like.
Many carts or other wheeled vehicles are non-motorized and must be manually pushed or pulled to maneuver or move. Often, due to their size and weight, these vehicles are difficult to move by pushing or pulling. There is a need for a device to facilitate moving these heavy loads in order to reduce fatigue and avoid injuries for those moving the loads.
Moving a bulky and/or heavy wheeled vehicle manually can be physically challenging and time consuming. With a motorized wheeled vehicle caddy to assist, an operator can decrease the amount of time required to move a heavy wheeled vehicle from one location to another.
When moving such wheeled vehicles in buildings such as, a hospital, it is often necessary to go from one floor to the next. Such movement requires the use of an elevator. Space on an elevator is generally at a premium, so there is a need for a motorized wheeled vehicle caddy that is small enough to fit on an elevator with an attached hospital cart, for example. Maneuvering into and out of small areas, like an elevator, requires that the caddy be able to readily both push and pull the attached vehicle.
The wheeled vehicle caddies of the prior art are generally larger in size and, therefore, can be more cumbersome to use. This renders it difficult for an operator to easily maneuver an attached vehicle within an area with limited space.
Also, in the prior art, wheeled vehicle caddies typically require the operator to move from the operating position when connecting and disconnecting a wheeled vehicle to the wheeled vehicle caddy. Having to move from the operating position to connect or disconnect a vehicle to the wheeled vehicle caddy and then moving back to the operator's position to drive the wheeled vehicle caddy is inefficient and time-consuming for the caddy operator. Furthermore, such inefficiency can be frustrating for one using the wheeled vehicle caddy.
It is generally recognized in the prior art that a portion of the wheeled vehicle is lifted off the floor when connecting the vehicle to the wheeled vehicle caddy, thereby requiring the wheeled vehicle caddy to support the weight of the wheeled vehicle during use. This increases the instability of the combined device comprised by the wheeled vehicle caddy and attached vehicle. Furthermore, to lift the wheeled vehicle off the ground during attachment and use requires that the wheeled vehicle caddy be strong and durable enough to support the additional weight of the attached vehicle. Such requirements can increase the manufacturing cost of the wheeled vehicle caddy.
With prior art wheeled vehicle caddies, making the connection between the wheeled vehicle caddy and the wheeled vehicle on uneven terrain is difficult, if not impossible. In the present invention, a hitching assembly allows the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy and the wheeled vehicle to be readily aligned for attachment, even on uneven terrain.
With the present invention, the operator can engage or disengage the hitch to respectively attach or detach the wheeled vehicle from the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy while standing in the operating position behind the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy. Consequently, the operator does not have to move away from the user position to attach or detach the wheeled vehicle.
Carts or other wheeled vehicles are not lifted off the ground by the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy of the present invention when the two are attached for use. By keeping all of the vehicle's wheels on the supporting surface or ground, the center of gravity of the combined unit is lowered thereby stabilizing the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy and the attached wheeled vehicle. Furthermore, without the added weight of the attached vehicle bearing on the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy during use, the motorized wheeled vehicle caddy can be small and lightweight for ease of use and economy of manufacture.